STRESS AND ORGANIZATION
Stress is a necessary positive force leading to effective work and maintenance of good health. Psychologists state that if a person is not able to fit into his or her environment, then it leads to stress. In fact, it guides and helps the mangers in resolving the stress situation within the organization.
Management is the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals working together in groups efficiently accomplish selected aims and tasks. In personnel administration, the managers are always trying to know the overall activities of the personnel in the course of setting goals and objectives of the organization. Today, managing stress in organization seems to be a challenging job to every manager. Especially, managers conduct general administration and development activities on the basis of certain assigned job and responsibilities.
Basically, in Nepalis organization, the employees mostly exhibit stress and conflict due to the diverse factors such as imbalance of reward and punishment, poor salary, low motivation and poor training facilities, improper job description and assignment, inadequate recognition of performance, excessive political pressures, lack of placement and tendency of sharing undue benefits. Management experts have stated that in Nepal the pressure keeps increasing on managers to produce sell and justify their employment. In modern organizations, managers have to cope with global pressure contributed by factors such as people, technology, politics economics and the environment.
Studies have shown that high stress is caused by diversified factors such as deadline pressures, inadequate career development and opportunities and lack of opportunities to travel abroad. The presence of these stress factors underscore the fact that women in management could do much better if given the right opportunities. At the same time, women’s double roles ie, reproductive and productive cause maximum stress to them. In 1982, CWIN (NGO) conducted a research on the working condition of children. Amongst girl carpet weavers, 38 percent said that they were repeatedly sexually harassed, teased or raped. Legal expert, Sapana Pradhan Malla says that in carpet and garment sectors, verbal nature of sexual harassment is common. In such sectors the male workers often proceed physical abuse to female workers like pinching on the buttocks, embracing, holding hands, caressing etc. Incidents of sexual harassment is equally high in airlines, as the nature of work requires night halts in different stations. Psychologists urge that harassment creates diversified problems ie, lack of concentration toward work, depression losing self-esteem and confidence.
JOB STRESS AND ENVIRONMENT
Stress as an inner state can be used by physical demands of the body or environment and social situation, which are evaluated as potentially a harmful, uncontrollable and difficult to cope with. People in developed and developing countries are differently aware and concerned about various environmental issues. Psychologists have remarked that job-related stress is to be expected in working environment. In many job situations, particularly in human services, high levels of stress are integral and largely unavoidable components of the work.
The stress performance relationship may be compared with the strings on a violin. When there is either too little or too much tension on the strings, music becomes a noise. Researchers have remarked that an individual may have a high stress tolerance for one variety of stress and low stress tolerance for another variety, depending on age, physical conditioning, learned behavior adjustment, and many others factors.
STRESS AND ITS IMPACT ON MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH
A person who is stressed characteristically has fearful thoughts and difficulty concentrating or remembering. Stress can also change outward behaviors. Teeth clenching, hand wringing, pacing, nail biting, and heavy breathing are common signs of stress. People also feel physically different when they are stressed. Butterflies in the stomach, cold hands and feet, dry mouth, and increased heart rate are all physiological effects of stress that we associate with the emotion of anxiety. Any job condition can produce stress depending on how an employee reacts to the work. Inadequate or excessive levels of stress or conflict can increase absence rate and finally affects the business production.
POSITIVE EFFECTS OF STRESS
Stress cannot only be negative or destructive. It can also be positive, and encourage people to work hard for their achievement of their targeted objectives. Some stress researchers have categorized stress into three watertight compartments, high, moderate and low. The low level stress may leave a worker bored, ideal and not motivated to act. Under low level of stress, the workers experience little stimulation, little positive challenge, which may result in the under-utilization of mental or physical skills. A moderate level of stress may lead to better performance by making better preparation. It also helps in creating a more positive self-esteem and an equally positive power. Under moderate stress levels, performance is high because physical and mental capabilities are challenged.
The science of copying follows diversified strategies ie, preventive management, change in organizational climate, management by objectives, managing environment and provide employee facilities and individual’s personal approaches. Individuals and organizations can attempt to deal with stress in various ways. Organizations can provide counseling or recreation facilities or improve the job design by matching the person with the work. Individuals may try to reduce stress through better management of time, nutrition, exercises, career planning, job changes, relaxation, meditation and prayer.
(Writer is Joint Secretary, Public Service Commission.)
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